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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28913817">that's what seasons do</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/reptilianraven/pseuds/reptilianraven'>reptilianraven</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Webb Hill Farm [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stardew Valley (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Other, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life, the romance of the eerie mundanity that is in game interactions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:15:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,840</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28913817</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/reptilianraven/pseuds/reptilianraven</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Odd fella, that Ronnie, but a good one.”</p><p>“But a good one,” Harvey nods, thinking about daffodils and clean, work worn hands.</p><p>-</p><p>The new farmer, Ronnie, is a delightfully strange person and Harvey has always known himself to be a bore. The seasons come and they go, and Harvey wonders why his feelings for Ronnie can’t be the same.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harvey/Farmer, Harvey/Original Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Webb Hill Farm [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. spring</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i played stardew valley for the first time this week and i am Fixated</p><p>i write each season of this fic after each season i play in game and scenes are based off of events i do in game. it will only take place over the course of the first year (later years are going to be,,,,,other fics, hehe). despite the fact that other seasons arent written yet, i have a clear plot and ending.</p><p>i hope you enjoy!!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Spring comes, as it always does. </p><p>It’s something Harvey would tell himself, whenever things were hard. When the nights got long at med school, when his shifts at the city hospital got him tired and weary to his bones, when he’d stay up at night looking at the ceiling of his tiny city apartment.</p><p>He sees the seasons more clearly ever since he moved to Pelican Town in Stardew Valley. It’s good here. He nurtures the community’s health one on one. He sees the time pass. Summer drenches the town in sunlight and blue skies, fall gently colors the trees and the grass, winter blankets everywhere the eye can see with snow and before Harvey knows it, he’s grown a year older.</p><p>He lives his life quietly, so quiet that Harvey thinks sometimes he’ll be nothing but a whisper one day.</p><p>But spring comes. </p><p>As it always does.</p><p>-</p><p>Oberon “Call me Ronnie” Webb moves in at the beginning of spring. Maru tells Harvey this during one of her shifts, talking about how lovely it is to have a new face in town, how nice Ronnie was when she met them, how interesting it’ll be that Ronnie told her they’re planning on fixing up that overgrown abandoned farm.</p><p>And fix the farm Ronnie does. Harvey doesn’t spend much time not working, but that first week, when Harvey is taking his break in the town square, he’ll see Ronnie trudging into town covered in dirt and plant fiber, a scythe and a pickaxe in each hand. Ronnie spends that first week clearing out the overgrowth and debris, and this Harvey knows because Ronnie also starts saying hello to the other people in town.</p><p>“They were quite the dirty boy when they said hello to me,” Maru laughs as she helps Harvey fill up jars of cotton in the clinic. “I haven’t seen the farm yet but just judging by how disheveled Ronnie looks, I’m sure it’s on its way to good shape.”</p><p>“I hope they don’t work themself to exhaustion,” Harvey hums, fiddling with a cotton ball. </p><p>Maru elbows him gently. “Aren’t you always talking about how we need more patients?”</p><p>“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I want the newcomer to faint!”</p><p>“I’m just kidding, Harvey,” Maru laughs, so full of life. “I wonder when you’ll get to meet them.”</p><p>Harvey wonders idly as well, but he didn’t have to, because he meets Ronnie on the first Friday of spring in the Stardrop Saloon. Harvey was nursing a single beer just to relax after a long week when somebody sits next to him at the bar. </p><p>Harvey looks up and sees Ronnie up close for the first time. Under their mop of messy dark brown hair are striking green eyes, behind round glasses, yes, but striking all the same. All the intensity of their gaze is focused onto Harvey.</p><p>“Hello,” Harvey tries not to seem nervous under their fierce gaze. </p><p>“Hi,” Ronnie says. They extend a hand, thankfully clean from any dirt. They’re cleaner in general, now, than last Harvey had seen them. “I’m Oberon Webb. Call me Ronnie. I just moved in last week.”</p><p>“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Harvey takes their hand and gets a nice firm shake. “I’m Harvey, the local doctor.”</p><p>“Good to meet you, Doc,” Ronnie nods, their face impassive. “I guess I’ll be the local farmer, soon.”</p><p>“I heard, yes. I’ve seen you around looking, er, worse for wear. I take it clearing out the land has been hard work?”</p><p>Ronnie shrugs, “It’s hard, but I enjoy it. Much more than my last job.”</p><p>“Oh?” Harvey blinks, curious. He knows that Ronnie came from the city, like him, but not much else.</p><p>“Oh,” Ronnie repeats, not saying anything further. They reach into the front pocket of their overalls and pulls out a daffodil. “Here. For you.”</p><p>“This is such a nice gift,” Harvey smiles, gently touching the petals. He meets Ronnie’s eyes. “Thank you.”</p><p>Ronnie nods, stands, and leaves the saloon without another word.</p><p>-</p><p>That spring is an odd one because of Ronnie’s residence at the town. They never go to the clinic, but often do they walk through town—disheveled and covered in dirt from working on the farm—talking to anybody they see. Ronnie seems to be one of little words, but they’re always polite, in a strange, stilted sort of manner that interests Harvey for some reason. It’s a special kind of quiet, Harvey figures, and everybody knows what birds of a feather do.</p><p>Harvey notices that whenever Ronnie talks to him, their hands are always washed clean. Dirtless, calloused hands always offering Harvey a daffodil whenever they can.</p><p>“Blast this damn leg,” Marlon says from where he’s sitting in Harvey’s office. He rubs his knee. “You sure it can’t be fixed no more, Harvey?”</p><p>“I’m afraid so, Marlon,” Harvey says mildly, getting his prescription pad and writing. “The most I can do is give you a note for pain medication, though perhaps now is also the time you should think about getting a cane, if walking is starting to become an issue.”</p><p>“You ever see an adventurer with a cane?” Marlon sighs. “Well, maybe my time as an adventurer is running out. Glad that Ronnie kid is taking up the mantle though.”</p><p>“Ronnie?” Harvey looks up from his pad.</p><p>“Ronnie, y’know, the farmer at Webb Hill, messy mop of hair, got the physique of a pipe cleaner—”</p><p>“I know them, yes,” Harvey laughs softly, handing Marlon his prescription. “They’ve been going down into the mines?”</p><p>“With a passion I’ve not seen in a long time,” Marlon grins, a glint in his single eye. “They’re always coming by the guild and selling bug meat and then walking right back into the mines for more. I asked them where all that drive comes from, and you know their answer? ‘I need copper for a silo’, they told me,” Marlon chuckles. “For a young one like that I figure it’d be glory or something but no. They just want a silo.”</p><p>Harvey sighs. “I can’t say I’m ecstatic knowing Ronnie is often going somewhere so dangerous, but I am glad they’re continuing your legacy, Marlon.”</p><p>“I am too. Odd fella, that Ronnie, but a good one.”</p><p>“But a good one,” Harvey nods, thinking about daffodils and clean, work worn hands.</p><p>-</p><p>One Friday, when Harvey is at the saloon as usual, Ronnie comes in covered in the usual dirt but the not so usual scrapes and gashes. Harvey isn't one to overreact, but he'll make an exception this time and say that Ronnie looks just shy of trailing blood everywhere they go. The occupants of the saloon stare as inconspicuously as they can, darting their eyes to Ronnie in stolen glances. Harvey isn’t so subtle. He watches Ronnie with his mouth agape the moment they come in. </p><p>They see Harvey and sit next to him. </p><p>“Ronnie,” Harvey says, looking at Ronnie’s wounds. “What—”</p><p>“Hey, Doc. One second,” Ronnie rummages through their pockets and pulls out a Salmonberry. “Here, for you.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, I’m allergic to Salmonberries,” Harvey winces. </p><p>“Oh,” Ronnie says, actually deflating a bit. Then they shrug and pop it into their mouth, chewing with just enough of an air of dejection that even Harvey can sense it.</p><p>“Please come to the clinic,” Harvey says, surprising himself. “Your wounds—you must be tired—I—” </p><p>“I’ll be better after a good night’s rest,” Ronnie shrugs, fidgeting on a tear in their overalls. “I just wanted to stop by and...check around.”</p><p>“If you had the time and energy to ‘check around’ you have the time and energy to go to the clinic for a while,” Harvey says gently. “You’ll heal faster if you let me do my job.”</p><p>“...But the clinic’s closed,” Ronnie says slowly.</p><p>“I’ve got the keys,” Harvey waves them off. “Please? For me?”</p><p>Ronnie is silent for a moment. Then, “Okay.”</p><p>They leave the saloon for the clinic together and Harvey lets them into the clinic and helps them. He cleans their scrapes, disinfects their gashes, and dresses their wounds. Not much is said between either of them the entire time, but Harvey finds he doesn’t mind. He has a feeling Ronnie doesn’t either. Silence, between the two of them, is starting to feel like some sort of home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>“other seasons arent written yet” okay i lied i just finished playing through summer earlier today and have most of the summer chapter written, will probs post tomorrow</p><p>im <a href="http://actualbird.tumblr.com/">actualbird</a> on tumblr!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. summer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“I think Ronnie Webb’s got a crush on you.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i said i would post the summer chapter tomorrow but whoops i actually finished writing it so here it is a mere few hours after the first chapter ksjfbkjsbkfjs</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Spring comes and it goes and summer takes its place. The sun is high in the sky, the days are drier, and the winds, when they wisp past, are warm. Maru has her birthday and Harvey gives her a battery pack he had rummaged all over his apartment for, resulting in a very happy Maru and a bit of a tackle hug in the reception area of the clinic.</p>
<p>“Oof,” Harvey laughs, patting Maru on the back. </p>
<p>“Oh, Harvey, you really know how to put a smile on my face,” Maru says, squeezing him before releasing him from the hug. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>“You’re welcome,” Harvey says, smiling. “Though whatever Ronnie is planning to give you is sure to be wonderful as well.”</p>
<p>Maru smiles, not unkindly. “Ronnie won’t be giving me a gift. They don’t really gift things to anybody in town, and I don’t mind but—” Her smile turns mischievous. “—it hasn’t escaped my notice that you’re the exception to this rule.”</p>
<p>“W-what?” Harvey stutters, feeling a strange tickle in his chest. “Surely, they must gift others, I always see them going around and talking to everybody.”</p>
<p>“And talk is all they do, though even that they don’t do much of, in a conversation,” Maru elbows Harvey in the side. “I think Ronnie Webb’s got a crush on you.”</p>
<p>Harvey blushes. “They do not!”</p>
<p>“They <i>dooooooo</i>!”</p>
<p>“They don’t!”</p>
<p>“Er, ‘scuse me,” Willy says from the entrance as he watches with an amused glint in his eye. “Not to interrupt this important conversation you twos are having, but I got a fishhook stuck in my thumb again.”</p>
<p>“Again?” Harvey says, honestly amazed at this point.</p>
<p>“Time to go to work, then,” Maru laughs, ushering Willy into the examination room.</p>
<p>The entire day, Harvey can’t help but be in utter disbelief at what Maru thinks is happening. Oberon Webb has a crush on Harvey? Ronnie is mysterious and strange and odd in delightful ways, and there’s no chance somebody that interesting would see something in a small town doctor like him.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>The next day is the Luau, and Harvey finds himself at the beach with the rest of the townspeople. There’s food and music and dancing and all sorts of things that make Harvey feel old. When the time comes for the Governor to try the soup, everybody waits in bated breath after he takes a sip, only for him to frown in dismay.</p>
<p>“Um…” The Governor says, coughing into his hand. “It's actually kind of disgusting. I think I'll pass on the soup this year.”</p>
<p>The disappointment everybody feels is thick in the air, but that disappointment quickly vanishes as the rest of the festivities are under way. As the music thrums through everybody and the food fills up stomachs, it isn’t long before everybody is as happy as a clam.</p>
<p>Almost everybody.</p>
<p>Ronnie sits on the pier, looking out into the ocean. Harvey doesn’t know why, but he grabs a cup of punch and approaches them, sitting next to them on the pier. </p>
<p>“Punch for your thoughts?” Harvey says, handing them the cup.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Ronnie accepts and takes a sip before looking back into the horizon where the ocean meets the sky. They’re silent for a moment before they say, very quietly, “Can I tell you a secret, Doc?”</p>
<p>Harvey tries to remain calm, tries not to think about Maru’s ridiculous proposal on Ronnie having a crush on him, and says, “Of course.”</p>
<p>“I…” Ronnie looks down. “...I put a Sweet Pea flower in the soup.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Harvey sighs in relief. </p>
<p>Ronnie looks up and blinks. “Oh? You’re not mad at me?”</p>
<p>“Why would I be mad at you?”</p>
<p>“I’m nearly one hundred percent sure my Sweet Pea flower made the soup bad.”</p>
<p>“It’s not your fault, I doubt you wanted the soup to be bad,” Harvey nudges Ronnie gently with his elbow. “You just didn’t have anything else, am I right?”</p>
<p>Ronnie nods, their shoulders hunching up and their expression so distressed as they begin to speak very, very quickly. “If I’d known, I would have brought something better, I make a lot of good crops on the farm, I promise, I can do better for this town, I can do better for the townspeople, I can—!”</p>
<p>“Whoa, whoa, Ronnie, pump the brakes, so to speak,” Harvey puts his hands up placatingly, surprised at Ronnie’s outburst. “You don’t have to do better, you’re already doing good.”</p>
<p>Ronnie looks at Harvey for a moment, just looking on with that intense gaze, as if searching Harvey’s own eyes for any doubt. Ronnie won’t find any, Harvey is sure of it.</p>
<p>“We all make mistakes,” Harvey says calmly. “But that’s okay. Mistakes are there to help us to be better, not to be a death sentence, Ronnie.”</p>
<p>“You’re very kind,” Ronnie says. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>“Thank you as well,” Harvey says slyly. </p>
<p>“For what?”</p>
<p>“Weeeell, these next few days I have an inkling I might get some patients at the clinic complaining about stomach problems thanks to a Sweet Pea flower soup.”</p>
<p>Ronnie barks out a laugh, and they seem as shocked by it as Harvey is. Harvey laughs along with them, and they sit there, like a couple of loons, losing their minds for no reason in front of the ocean.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>When it rains in the summer, it storms. Lightning flashes through the windows of the clinic before the heavy boom of thunder hits. Rain comes down in sheets banging on the rooftops. The sky is dark, and nobody in their right mind would be out in this weather. </p>
<p>Ronnie Webb is somewhere a little to the left of being ‘in their right mind.’</p>
<p>They come inside the clinic, dripping wet, but smiling brighter than Harvey has ever seen them smile before.</p>
<p>“Ronnie!” Harvey scrambles to fetch a towel or something. “You’re soaked.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but nevermind that. I’ve figured it out,” Ronnie says, not making sense. </p>
<p>Harvey hands them a towel and asks, “Figured what out?”</p>
<p>Ronnie takes the towel and puts it aside on a seat, not bothering to dry themself as they begin to speak and open their inventory. “You’re always working, and I wanted to give you something that can make it easier, and I kept thinking about what that thing would be, and I figured it out.” From one of their inventory slots, they pull something out and in materializes in their hand.</p>
<p>A cup of coffee.</p>
<p>Ronnie grins, water dripping from their hair and the rest of them, and says, “Here. For you.”</p>
<p>“Ronnie,” Harvey accepts the coffee and it’s warm against his palm. The tickle in his chest comes back, but it’s deeper now. Feels less like a tickle and feels more like how he holds the cup; a gentle warmth, right against the surface of it all. Harvey smiles at Ronnie. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”</p>
<p>“It’s just a coffee,” Ronnie says, a little bashful.</p>
<p>“A coffee you gave me in the middle of a thunderstorm.”</p>
<p>“I like the rain.”</p>
<p>“Has anybody ever told you—” Harvey laughs softly. “—that you are quite strange?”</p>
<p>“Every day of my life,” Ronnie says. “But not often do I hear it as a compliment.”</p>
<p>“I mean it as one,” Harvey tells them.</p>
<p>“I know,” Ronnie smiles before exiting the clinic, back into the raging downpour without a care in the world.</p>
<p>As Harvey sits down at the counter and takes a sip from the coffee, he thinks maybe Ronnie Webb does have a crush on him. This would be fine, under normal circumstances. He would have let Ronnie down gently and they would have continued their friendship with no further bumps in the road. But, Harvey sighs as he places a hand on his chest, circumstances aren’t as normal as they seem. In his heart, a little glimmer of warmth. A little flickering flame of emotions, unbidden and alive. Ronnie Webb might have a crush on him and Harvey might just have one for them back. </p>
<p>But Ronnie has their whole life ahead of them and Harvey is further down the path. But Ronnie takes risks and does the unexpected and Harvey is predictable and set in his ways. But Ronnie is odd and wonderful and interesting and Harvey is just Harvey. </p>
<p>The lightning flashes. The thunder booms. The rain comes down loudly and without mercy.</p>
<p>Harvey, all of a sudden, feels older than he’s ever been.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. fall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Harvey watches a leaf wash up onto the small river, blocked by a rock. This leaf will likely never reach the ocean, destined to stay in that crevice and rot, and he knows. He places a hand to his chest.</p><p>He knows.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i got that 4 heart event with harvey in my singleplayer and i went feral incorporating it into the plot i have planned for this fic</p><p>i hope you enjoy!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The leaves on the trees start to brown, heralding in the beginning of fall. The days are shorter, ever so cooler, and life goes on. Ronnie might have feelings for Harvey and Harvey might just have feelings back, and so fall comes in while the both of them are in this territory of ‘maybe’ in silence. It’s apt, Harvey figures, and the leaves start to drift off from the trees.</p><p>“Coffee for you, Doc,” Ronnie says as they usually do. They’ve made it a habit, bringing Harvey a coffee every few days or so. They do it nonchalantly, but Harvey’s started to see the little hopeful glint in Ronnie’s eyes, the tiny smile that quirks their lips.</p><p>“Thank you, Ronnie,” Harvey smiles, chest warming up as it usually does, every time Ronnie does this. He’s made it a habit to be endlessly charmed by all of Ronnie’s antics, and their kindness is one that really touches him. “I really don’t know how to repay you for constantly providing me my—healthy, mind you—caffeine fix.”</p><p>“No need to repay me,” Ronnie shrugs. “It’s not special coffee anyway, I buy it from Gus. Once I start growing beans myself, that’s when I can give you coffee that really means something.”</p><p>“Ronnie,” Harvey says. “All the coffees you’ve given already mean something. They mean you care.”</p><p>Ronnie blinks, their face growing ever so flushed. Harvey feels his own cheeks warm up as well. </p><p>“Right, well,” Ronnie says, stilted. “I better get back to the farm, uh—”</p><p>“I too should be getting back to work, I there’s—things—that need doing—”</p><p>“Of course, of course, I’ve also got to cut some hardwood and—”</p><p>“Patients won’t examine themselves and—” </p><p>They look at each other, are silent for a moment, then break into laughter that fills Harvey’s heart with light.</p><p>“See you around, Ronnie,” Harvey says.</p><p>Ronnie smiles. “See you around, Doc.”</p><p>As Ronnie leaves, so does the warmth in Harvey’s chest. It’s as if they take it with them, but Harvey knows it isn’t Ronnie’s fault. It’s his own. Afterall, Harvey can’t let anything happen between them. It’s in Ronnie’s best interest, that they don’t try to attach themself to somebody as dull as Harvey. He’d only weigh them down. </p><p>But Harvey can’t help indulge in these little moments still.</p><p>He never thought himself to be selfish, but he never thought he’d fall in love this late as well.</p><p>-</p><p>Harvey thinks about it quite often. His feelings, that is. He didn’t have much to think about but work and his little hobbies for a long time, but then Ronnie Webb came into town, and Harvey fell in increments so small he doesn’t notice until he’s too deep in to get out. </p><p>He stands at the small river in watches fallen leaves drift on the water’s surface. They will float out to the ocean and new leaves will replace them. That’s how the world works, things come and they go, and the seasons will never stop changing. That’s what seasons do. Ronnie Webb is young, still, and these feelings they have for Harvey can fade and be replaced with feelings that will be better for them. It’s Harvey’s responsibility, then, to not wait at the sidelines and enjoy the ride while it lasts. It’s his responsibility to put an end to Ronnie’s feelings so they can thrive.</p><p>Harvey watches a leaf wash up onto the small river, blocked by a rock. This leaf will likely never reach the ocean, destined to stay in that crevice and rot, and he knows. He places a hand to his chest.</p><p>He knows.</p><p>-</p><p>“Coffee for you, Doc—”</p><p>“Oh, Ronnie,” Harvey smiles, trying to ignore the ache in his chest. “I was just about to write you a letter.”</p><p>“Huh?” Ronnie tilts their head as they place the coffee on the counter.</p><p>“You’re due for an annual check-up.” Harvey fidgets with his fingers as he thinks, <i>you’re due for an annual check-up and for me to try and tell you that I don’t feel the same way for you, even if I do.</i></p><p>“Oh, okay,” Ronnie nods and follows Harvey to his office.</p><p>Ronnie and Harvey have been here before, back in spring when Harvey had patched up their wounds, but as Harvey guides Ronnie through the motions of the check-up, he can’t help but feel different. Harvey puts on his stethoscope and moves closer to Ronnie, closer than he’s ever been, and presses the drum to their chest.</p><p>“Just need to check your vitals,” Harvey listens to the beats of Ronnie’s chest and counts. </p><p>“Okay,” Ronnie says quietly.</p><p>“Your pulse seems a bit high,” Harvey murmurs.</p><p>Ronnie breathes out a laugh. “I’m a bit a nervous…I don’t know why, but I have a funny feeling I’m going to get bad news today from you.”</p><p>Harvey removes his stethoscope and smiles kindly to Ronnie, not letting his true feelings show. “Clinics can make a lot of people nervous, but I assure you, I’m here to help you and there’s no bad news I have to say. You’re very healthy.”</p><p>“Good to know, Doc,” Ronnie smiles crookedly. “I have to go now. I was going to do some foraging before dark.”</p><p>“Alright,” Harvey says. “See you around.”</p><p>Ronnie waves goodbye and exits the clinic. When Harvey is sure they’re gone, he falls into his seat, sighs, and puts his face in his hands, trying to ignore the persistent sting of his own cowardice.</p><p>The coffee Ronnie left him goes cold.</p><p>-</p><p>Harvey needs to let Ronnie move on, but he isn’t brave enough to lie to them. The only other solution then, is to avoid them as much as possible.</p><p>It’s not the best solution in the world, given that he now needs to change his routine in an erratic manner that still aligns with his clinic schedules, but it does the trick. Ronnie is a busy person, and they can’t always be tracking down Harvey to give him a coffee, and the rest of the season passes with nary a conversation between the two of them.</p><p>That is until the end of Spirit’s Eve. </p><p>Harvey had just gone back to his apartment and hung his coat when the door opens behind him and he turns to see Ronnie Webb, in his home.</p><p>“Ronnie?” Harvey asks, bewildered. “How did you get past the clinic?”</p><p>“Maru let me in,” Ronnie says, gaze intense and unwavering. They say, “You’re avoiding me.”</p><p>“Wh-what?” Harvey laughs nervously. “Nonsense. It’s past midnight, if you don’t go to bed soon you might pass o—”</p><p>“You.” Ronnie steps forward. Harvey doesn’t step back. “Are avoiding me.”</p><p>Harvey doesn’t know what to say, so he just sighs and lets his shoulders slump. “Yes. I am.”</p><p>Ronnie takes another step forward, close enough that they tilt their head up ever so slightly to look Harvey in the eye. “Why?”</p><p>“I—”</p><p>“I want the truth,” Ronnie says gently. “Please.”</p><p>“Okay.” Harvey shuts his eyes. The ache in his chest thrums through his heart. “I’m avoiding you because I know you have feelings for me.”</p><p>Ronnie’s eyes widen, stricken and upset and heartbroken. “Doc, I—”</p><p>“And I have feelings for you back.”</p><p>Ronnie blinks. “What? Then why—”</p><p>“Ronnie,” Harvey says softly. “You can’t be in a relationship with me. You’re young and I’m nearing my forties. You’re full of life and I know I’m known as the town bore. You’re wonderful and I’m just me. You could do so much better.”</p><p>“But I don’t want better,” Ronnie says, raising his hand to hold Harvey’s. “I want good. And you’re it, Doc.”</p><p>The ache in Harvey’s chest is tremendous, and he can’t take it. </p><p>He pulls away.</p><p>“You should go home,” Harvey says. He’s tired. </p><p>“Doc—”</p><p>“I just—I need some time, Ronnie.”</p><p>“Okay,” Ronnie nods. “All the time you need, I’ll give it. I’ll wait however long it takes.”</p><p>And with that, Ronnie leaves Harvey’s home. </p><p>Through the open door, Harvey can feel the chill of the coming season wisp in.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>one season left then this fic will be over but like i will still be playing and i have a lot more hearts with harvey to go so,,,,,yeah, this fic is part of a series now, for anybody who is interested</p><p>leave me a comment if u liked this chap!!!</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. winter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“You better get to fixing whatever it is you need to fix, because it looks like Ronnie Webb’s a real catch.”</p><p>They are. And Harvey is tired of pulling back.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Winter creeps in slowly and steadily, nobody realizing it’s made its home in Pelican town until snow begins to fall from the sky and blanket the ground. Harvey looks out their window and sees the trees, wondering about the squirrels and rabbits and where they go to find warmth.</p><p>Harvey doesn’t see Ronnie for the first two weeks of the season. Maru has told him that they’re having a hard time right now. Winter is always hard on farmers—what with no crops to harvest and all the grass dead—and this is Ronnie’s first. More than anything, Harvey wants to walk out of the clinic right now and head over to Webb Hill Farm to check on Ronnie, see if he can help, but they’re at an impasse that Harvey had requested.</p><p>Harvey had asked for time. </p><p>And Ronnie is giving it to him. </p><p>He needs to use this time wisely. He needs to use this time to get his act together so that he doesn’t hurt Ronnie. They both have feelings for each other, and Ronnie doesn’t seem to mind that Harvey is the pinnacle of mediocrity, but Harvey very obviously has issues about the possibility of a relationship between the two of them, and he has to sort them out and figure out just what it is he wants.</p><p>That’s just the thing, that makes all of this so difficult. Harvey’s terrible at wanting things. He has a crippling fear of heights and yet wanted to be a pilot. He has a heart that’s fragile and soft and yet he worked to become a doctor who sees people at their most pained. He has a love in him that yearns and yearns and yet he retreats instead of reaching out. </p><p>Harvey seems to want only in the manner of contradiction. He can’t let Ronnie get caught in his crossroads.</p><p>“Harvey,” Maru says softly as he enters his office. </p><p>“Maru,” Harvey straightens up from the slouch his thoughts had put him in. “Do we have a walk-in?”</p><p>“Yep, it’s me, I’m walking in,” Maru smiles, sitting down across from Harvey. Her smile turns gentle and curious. “You seem sad, Harvey. There was always a bit of it in you, but right now, it seems like there’s a lot.”</p><p>Harvey’s chest aches with the realization that Maru is worried. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”</p><p>“No saying sorry for your feelings,” Maru interrupts him. “I just want to know if I can help.”</p><p>“I—” Harvey stutters. He takes a deep breath and says. “Can I ask you a question?”</p><p>“Shoot.”</p><p>“What should a person do—” He says. “—When they want something but feel like they don’t deserve it.”</p><p>Maru blinks and leans back, silent for a moment.</p><p>“I think,” She says slowly. “That feeling something is different from it being the reality of that person.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Some days I feel happy, but I’m not made of happiness. Sometimes I feel sad, but I am not my sadness.” Maru explains. She leans forward and squeezes Harvey’s hand. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve good things, but that doesn’t mean it’s true.” </p><p>Harvey squeezes her hand back. “How can you be sure?”</p><p>“You can’t,” Maru smiles. “But you’re a doctor. You know how important hope is to people.”</p><p>“You’re a wise young woman, you know that?”</p><p>“Of course I do,” Maru grins. “Now that feelings talk is out of the way, a certain somebody stopped by and told me to give you this.”</p><p>“Huh?” Harvey says as Maru places a jar of what seems to be pickled eggplants on his desk. There’s a little ribbon tied around it and a card, which he reads.</p><p>
  <i>I know you wanted time but I still wanted to give you this. Made it myself, from beginning to end. I hope you enjoy them. Happy Birthday. -Ronnie Webb</i>
</p><p>“Oh, Ronnie,” Harvey says, voice a little choked up. “I’d forgotten—”</p><p>Maru passes him a small pack of tissues. “You always forget, every year.”</p><p>“But they remembered and made me this, during the winter, of all times, when selling all their produce is essential—”</p><p>“They sure did.” Maru says slowly. “You better get to fixing whatever it is you need to fix, because it looks like Ronnie Webb’s a real catch.”</p><p>They are. And Harvey is tired of pulling back.</p><p>-</p><p>Finding Ronnie Webb is difficult. Harvey had walked to Webb Hill farm and gotten tackled by what he assumes to be Ronnie’s very enthusiastic German Shepherd, but nobody was home in the cabin. He had checked around through the town’s houses, checked Pierre’s and the Library, checked up North as well, had knocked on the door of the Adventurer’s Guild to ask Marlon if he’d seen Ronnie go into the mines today. Everybody he asks, everywhere he looks, it’s a dead end, and the sun is setting and while the falling snow has intensified into a merciless gusts and flurries. </p><p>Harvey walks back to the clinic, determined to find them tomorrow, when he notices that at the entrance of the clinic is a horse he’s never seen before. The horse catches his eye and neighs and whinnies at him, lowering its head to nudge at a form crouched by the clinic door, a form that’s—</p><p>“Ronnie!” Harvey runs to Ronnie’s side, immediately checking their pulse, which is thankfully steady. Their skin however is cold to the touch and aside from a pair of tundra boots, Ronnie is not dressed for the weather at all. </p><p>“H-hey, Doc,” Ronnie sluggishly opens their eyes, shivering. “Sorry about this, b-but I didn’t know who e-else—”</p><p>“Let’s get you inside, Ronnie,” Harvey says, hefting them up and unlocking the door to the clinic.</p><p>“Can Orchard come in t-too?” Ronnie says, looking to their horse. “Don’t want him to g-get cold.”</p><p>Ronnie Webb, always thinking about anybody but themself. Harvey says, “Of course, you’ll both be warmer inside. </p><p>It’s almost comical bringing Ronnie and an entire horse into the clinic, but it’s far from anything to laugh at, given Ronnie’s state. They’re not hypothermic yet, but they seem to have gotten too close for Harvey’s comfort. Harvey sets out to work as fast as he can, fetching an electric blanket from the storage to warm Ronnie up, going up to his apartment to heat up some soup in a thermos. He returns to Ronnie and sees that their horse, Orchard, has settled beside where they sit, its head on Ronnie’s lap.</p><p>“Ronnie,” Harvey gently holds them by the shoulder and he sighs in relief when Ronnie’s dark green eyes flutter open. “Do you think you could drink some soup? It’ll help warm you up.”</p><p>“I think so,” Ronnie tries to take the thermos, but their hands are shaking, and so Harvey wraps his hand around Ronnie’s to steady their hold as they take a few sips. Ronnie sighs. “Thanks, Doc.”</p><p>“Just doing my job,” Harvey sets the thermos aside and sits next to them. “What happened, Ronnie?”</p><p>“Winter has been hard,” Ronnie’s voice sounds tired. “I need to forage to find things to make money or seeds. I didn’t notice how cold it had gotten.”</p><p>“You work too hard,” Harvey says quietly.</p><p>Ronnie breathes a laugh. “Could say the same thing for you.”</p><p>The both of them are quiet for a moment until Ronnie breaks it with slow words. Not slow from the cold, but slow from hesitation.</p><p>“Winter has been hard,” Ronnie says again. “Also because I...I miss you.”</p><p>Harvey’s chest aches, but this time he isn’t planning on denying himself. “I miss you too.”</p><p>“I know you said you wanted time, and I meant it when I said I would wait, but could we still...talk and—”</p><p>“Ronnie,” Harvey says. Slowly, he hovers his hand over Ronnie’s. “May I?”</p><p>Ronnie looks up at him and says nothing. They just open their hand for Harvey, and Harvey holds them, lets their fingers intertwine in warmth.</p><p>“I miss you too. So much it hurts, sometimes,” Harvey says, looking at Ronnie’s gorgeous eyes. “And I did want time, but I don’t want us to be apart. I—I may still need some time, but we can still talk to each other, still spend time together, while I figure out just what it is inside me that makes me so scared of this.”</p><p>“I’d like that a lot,” Ronnie smiles, rubbing their thumb over Harvey’s knuckles. “What’ll that make us?”</p><p>“Two people with a—mutual understanding of feelings?” Harvey hazards before laughing nervously. “To be quite honest, I don’t know what sort of label would fit us. I just know that I want this and if you want this, I’m afraid things are going to have to be a bit...slow. I want to know you more, I want you to know me more, I want us to be together first in a way that won’t hurt us before we commit to anything that might bring pain. I...I haven’t been in a relationship in a long time, and I don’t know how to do this, so I need to remember how.”</p><p>“I haven’t been in a relationship in a while either,” Ronnie says, leaning their head onto Harvey’s shoulder. “I can do slow. Slow would be lovely with you.”</p><p>“Really?” Harvey asks.</p><p>“Really,” Ronnie says, squeezing Harvey’s hand. “I like you, Doc. I’m here for it, all of it, if you’ll let me.”</p><p>“I’ll let you,” Harvey says. Maybe it’s the warmth blooming in his chest, maybe it’s a rare streak of confidence, or maybe it’s just Harvey. Whatever it is, Harvey raises Ronnie’s hand and presses a soft kiss to their fingers. “One day, I’ll let you.” </p><p>Ronnie’s eyes are wide and their face is flushed dark. Well, that’s one way to warm somebody up.</p><p>“When can I ask you out on a date?” Ronnie says, strained.</p><p>Harvey laughs, and despite the blizzard raging outside, despite the doubt and insecurities in his mind, despite the literal horse with them in this moment, Harvey’s heart feels like it is made of light. </p><p>“Tell you what,” Harvey says. “Ask me again next season.”</p><p>Ronnie grins, bright and beautiful and alive. They say, “You bet I will, Doc.”</p><p>-</p><p>And spring comes.</p><p>As it always does.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>tadaa!!!! end of the first year for my farmer oc!!!!</p><p>harvey and ronnie's story is far from over and there will be more fics in this series as i continue to play sdv :3. the next fic will be from ronnie's pov and will have more of a romcom feel.</p><p>im <a href="http://actualbird.tumblr.com/">actualbird</a> on tumblr!!! drop by and say hi if u want or leave me a comment here!!!</p>
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